JP2000293301A - Computer system and method for restoring fault of keyboard or pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restore a keyboard or a pointing device from a fault by initializing it without making a user operate it when an electric fault occurs in it. SOLUTION: This computer system 1 to which a keyboard 2 or a pointing device is connected is provided with an outputting means which outputs a prescribed command to the keyboard 2 or the pointing device, an inputting means which inputs a response command outputted from the keyboard 2 or the pointing device in response to the command and a power controlling means which feeds power to the keyboard 2 or the pointing device when the response command is inputted to the inputting means. Then, the power controlling means stops feeding the power when the response command is not inputted to the inputting means in a prescribed form or when the respond command is not inputted and resumes to feed the power after a prescribed time passes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer apparatus and a method for restoring a keyboard or a pointing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a keyboard or a mouse in a computer device is supplied to the keyboard or the like by outputting a reset command from the computer device to the keyboard or by turning off software or the power of the computer device. The power was cut off, the keyboard and the like were completely discharged, and then the power was turned on again.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional computer device and its peripheral devices. Computer device 31
Are a controller 35 for controlling the keyboard 32 and the mouse 33, and a control circuit 34 for controlling the operation of the apparatus main body.
And

[0006] The computer device 31 and the keyboard 32 are connected by two types of lines, a command transfer line 36 and a power supply line 37. The command carrying line 36 carries a command output from the keyboard 32 to the controller 35. Power supply line 3
Numeral 7 supplies power from a power control means (not shown) to the keyboard 32 via the controller 35.

[0005] The computer device 31 and the mouse 33 are
They are connected by two types of lines, a command transfer line 38 and a power supply line 39. Command transport line 3
Numeral 8 conveys a command output from the mouse 33 to the controller 35. The power supply line 39 supplies power from a power control unit (not shown) to the mouse 33 via the controller 35.

When the keyboard 32 and the mouse 33 are initialized, a reset command is output from the control circuit 34 or the controller 35 to the keyboard 32 and the mouse 33 via command transfer lines 36 and 38, respectively. The keyboard 32 and the mouse 33 are initialized according to the input of the reset command. The initialization of the keyboard 32 and the mouse 33 is performed, for example, when the power of the computer device 31 is turned on.

[0007] When an electrical trouble such as runaway occurs in the keyboard 32 or the mouse 33 while the computer device 31 is operated by the keyboard 32 or the mouse 33, it is necessary to initialize these. . In this case, a technique for initializing the keyboard 32 or the mouse 33 when the user moves the mouse cursor out of the window while pressing the mouse button of the mouse 33 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H03-255514. Have been.

[0008]

However, the technique disclosed in the above publication requires an operation by a user when initializing a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse. Therefore, when an electrical failure occurs in a keyboard or a mouse, it has been desired to improve operability when initializing them.

[0009] Therefore, the present invention provides a method for controlling a keyboard or a pointing device when an electrical failure occurs.
It is an object to initialize them without a user's operation.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a computer apparatus to which a keyboard or a pointing device is connected, and an output means for outputting a predetermined command to the keyboard or the pointing device. Input means for inputting a response command output from the keyboard or the pointing device in response to the command, and supplying power to the keyboard or the pointing device when the response command is input to the input means. Power control means, the power control means, when the response command is not input to the input means in a predetermined form or when the response command is not input, stops the power supply, for a predetermined time After elapse, the supply of the electric power is restarted.

Further, the computer device of the present invention includes a means for outputting a predetermined command to a keyboard, a means for determining whether or not a response command output in response to the command is input from the keyboard, Means for determining whether or not the response command is in a predetermined form; means for stopping power supplied to the keyboard when the response command is not input or the response command is not in the predetermined form; Means for resuming the stopped supply of power after a lapse of time, means for outputting the command to a pointing device, and determining whether or not the response command output from the pointing device is input. Means, means for determining whether the response command is in a predetermined form, and means for receiving the response command. Means for stopping the power supply to the pointing device when the response command is not present or the response command is not in the predetermined form, and means for restarting the supply of the stopped power after the predetermined time has elapsed. Is provided.

Further, the present invention provides a method for restoring a failure of a keyboard or a pointing device, comprising outputting a predetermined command to the keyboard or the pointing device, and responding to the command from the keyboard or the pointing device. When a command is output, power is supplied to the keyboard or the pointing device, and when the response command is not output in a predetermined form or when the response command is not output, the supply of the power is stopped, and After the elapse of the time, the power supply is restarted.

Still further, in the method for restoring a failure of a keyboard or a pointing device according to the present invention, a step of outputting a predetermined command to the keyboard and a step of receiving a response command output from the keyboard in response to the command. Determining whether or not the response command is in a predetermined form; and supplying power to the keyboard when the response command is not input or the response command is not in the predetermined form. Stopping, and restarting the supply of the stopped power after a predetermined time has elapsed,
Outputting the command to a pointing device, determining whether the response command output from the pointing device is input, and determining whether the response command is in a predetermined form Stopping the power being supplied to the pointing device when the response command is not input or the response command is not in the predetermined form; and the power stopped after the predetermined time has elapsed. Restarting the supply of

That is, the present invention initializes the keyboard or the pointing device and recovers from the failure by stopping the power supply to the keyboard or the pointing device and then restarting the power supply.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a computer device of the present embodiment and its peripheral devices. The configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The computer device 1 includes a controller 13 that converts a command output from the control circuit 11 and outputs the command to the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3, and a detection unit 12 that detects a failure of the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3.
A power control unit 14 for stopping and restarting power supplied to the keyboard 2 from a power supply unit (not shown) via the controller 13; and a power control unit 15 for stopping and restarting power supplied to the mouse 3. ing.

The control circuit 11 and the controller 13 are connected via a transport line 16 that transports a command for detecting a failure of the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 and the like. The controller 13 and the keyboard 2 are connected via a command transport line 20 that transports commands output from the controller 13, response commands output from the keyboard 2, and the like. The controller 13 and the mouse 3 are connected via a command transport line 22 that transports commands output from the controller 13 and response commands output from the mouse 3.

The control circuit 11 and the detecting means 12
It is connected via a response command transport line 17 that transports response commands. Detecting means 12 and power control means 1
4 and 15 are connected via power control signal lines 18 and 19 which carry control signals for stopping and restarting power supply. The power control means 14 and the keyboard 2 are connected via a power supply line 21. The power control means 15 and the mouse 3 are connected via a power supply line 23.

The command for determining whether or not the operation of the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 is normal is newly added to the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 by using an echo command or the like prepared in advance. Alternatively, a device that outputs the state of the mouse 3 may be prepared and used. The detecting means 12 may be embedded in a microprogram for controlling the existing keyboard 2 and mouse 3, instead of being provided independently in the computer device 1. further,
The command can be generated in the controller 13 and output to the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 are supplied with power from a power supply unit (not shown) of the computer device 1 via a controller 13 and power control units 14 and 15.

The control circuit 11 periodically outputs a predetermined command to the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3. This command is for detecting whether the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 are operating normally, and is input to the controller 13 via the command transfer line 16. The controller 13 converts the input command into a command usable by the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 and outputs the command to the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 via the command transfer lines 20 and 22.

When the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 is operating normally, it outputs a response command corresponding to the command. The response command is input to the controller 13 via the command transfer lines 20 and 22. The controller 13 converts the response command into a command that can be used by the control circuit, and outputs the command to the control circuit 11 via the command transfer line 16. The response command input to the control circuit 11 is input to the detection means 12 via the response command transport line 17.

On the other hand, when the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 is not operating normally, a response command other than a predetermined form is output or a response command is not output depending on the cause of the failure. The case where the response command is not in a predetermined form, for example, when an echo command is used, means that the control circuit 11 and the detection circuit 1
This means that the voltage value of the response command that has passed through 2 is detected and the voltage value is not greater than the threshold value, or that the response command contains an error bit greater than the threshold value.

When the detecting means 12 detects that the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 is not operating normally, it outputs a power control signal for stopping the power supplied from the power supply means to the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3. , To the power control means 14 or 15 via the power control signal line 18 or 19.

When the power control signal is input, the power control means 14 or 15 stops the power supplied to the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 via the power supply line 21 or 23. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the supply of power to the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 is restarted.

Here, the predetermined time refers to a time required from when the power is turned off to when the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 is completely discharged. The control circuit 11 has a device ID table for the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 and a table corresponding to the device ID for each device. Then, for example, when a device ID output together with the response command is input, a predetermined time corresponding to the device ID is extracted.

When detecting that the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 is not operating normally, the detecting means 12 includes this information in the power control signal to be output to the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 and includes the power control signal. Control means 14 or 15
Output to

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment. The operation of the present embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIG. First, the control circuit 11 outputs a command for the keyboard 2 to the controller 13 to detect whether the keyboard 2 is operating normally (step S1).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not a response command of the keyboard 2 is input to the detection means 12 via the controller 13 and the control circuit 11 (step S2).
If no response command is input to the detection means 12, the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if the response command
If it is input to the detection means 12, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, it is determined whether the response command is in a predetermined form. If the response command is in a predetermined form, the process moves to step S7. Then, it is determined that there is no abnormality in the operation of the keyboard 2 (step S).
7) Output a signal to that effect to the control means 11.

On the other hand, if it is not the predetermined mode, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, a power control signal for stopping the power supplied from the power supply unit to the keyboard 2 is output to the power control unit 14. Power control means 14
Stops the power supply to the keyboard 2. Thus, when the keyboard 2 is completely discharged, the keyboard 2 is initialized.

Then, the supply of power to the keyboard 2 is restarted (step S5). As a result, the keyboard 2 recovers from the failure, and can perform normal operations (step S6). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S8.

Next, in order to detect whether or not the mouse 3 is operating normally, the control circuit 11
To the mouse 3 (step S
8). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not a response command of the mouse 3 is input to the detection unit 12 (step S9).
If no response command is input to the detection means 12, the process proceeds to step S11. On the other hand, if the response command is input to the detecting means 12, the process proceeds to step S1.
Move to 0.

In step S10, it is determined whether the response command is in a predetermined form. The form of the response command is
This is similar to the case where the operation of the keyboard 2 is determined.
If the response command is in a predetermined form, step S
Go to 14. Then, it is determined that there is no abnormality in the operation of the mouse 3 (step S14), and a signal to that effect is output to the control means 11.

On the other hand, if it is not the predetermined mode, the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, a power control signal for stopping the power supply from the power supply unit to the mouse 3 is output to the power control unit 15. Power control means 15
Stops the power supply to the mouse 3. Thus, when the mouse 3 is completely discharged, the mouse 3 is initialized. Then, the power supply to the mouse 3 is restarted (step S1).
2). As a result, the mouse 3 recovers from the failure and can perform a normal operation (step S13).

In this embodiment, the case where the response command output from the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3 is input to the detecting means 12 via the controller 13 and the control circuit 11 has been described. The detection means 12 is directly connected, and the detection means 12 is provided with a controller function so that a response command is transmitted to the detection means 12.
May be directly entered.

In this embodiment, after determining whether the operation of the keyboard 2 is normal or not, the mouse 3
Has been described as to whether or not the operation of the control circuit 11 is normal.
It is also possible to determine whether the operation of the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 is normal or not at the same time in parallel.

Further, after determining whether or not the operation of the mouse 3 is normal, it may be determined whether or not the operation of the keyboard 2 is normal. Further, the present embodiment can be applied to a case where a pointing device other than the mouse 3 such as a trackball, a joystick, a digitizer, a printer, and a main storage device is connected to the computer device.

This embodiment is effective when the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 are connected to the computer device 1 via a USB connector or IEEE1394.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, a predetermined command is output to a keyboard or a pointing device, and a response command output in response to the command is not input in a predetermined form or a response command is output. When no command is input, the power supply is stopped and the power supply is restarted.

Therefore, when a failure occurs in the keyboard or the pointing device, if it is a simple failure that can be recovered by, for example, turning on / off the power supply, the failure can be performed without user operation. It can be initialized and recovered from a failure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computer device and peripheral devices according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the computer device and its peripheral devices of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional computer device and its peripheral devices.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer apparatus 2 Keyboard 3 Mouse 11 Control circuit 12 Detecting means 13 Controller 14, 15 Power control means 16 Transport line 17 Response command transport line 18, 19 Power control signal line 20, 22 Command transport line 21, 23 Power supply line

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A computer device to which a keyboard or a pointing device is connected, an output unit for outputting a predetermined command to the keyboard or the pointing device, and an output corresponding to the command from the keyboard or the pointing device. Input means for inputting a response command to be performed,
Power control means for supplying power to the keyboard or the pointing device when the response command is input to the input means, wherein the power control means inputs the response command to the input means in a predetermined form. The computer device, wherein if not performed or the response command is not input, the power supply is stopped, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the power supply is restarted. 2. A means for outputting a predetermined command to a keyboard; a means for determining whether or not a response command output from the keyboard in response to the command is input; Means for determining whether or not there is, and means for stopping power supplied to the keyboard when the response command is not input or the response command is not in the predetermined form; and the stop after a predetermined time has elapsed. Means for resuming the supply of the power, means for outputting the command to a pointing device, means for determining whether or not the response command output from the pointing device is input, and Means for determining whether or not the response is in a predetermined form; and the response command is not input or the response command is Means for stopping the power supplied to the pointing device when not in the predetermined form, and means for restarting the supply of the stopped power after the predetermined time has elapsed. Computer device. 3. The computer device according to claim 1, wherein the pointing device is a mouse. 4. A failure recovery method for a keyboard or a pointing device, wherein a predetermined command is output to the keyboard or the pointing device, and a response command is output from the keyboard or the pointing device in response to the command. Then, power is supplied to the keyboard or the pointing device, and when the response command is not output in a predetermined form or when the response command is not output, the supply of the power is stopped, and a predetermined time elapses. Restarting the supply of the power after the operation of the keyboard or the pointing device. 5. A step of outputting a predetermined command to a keyboard; a step of determining whether a response command output in response to the command from the keyboard is input; Determining whether there is a response command; stopping the power supplied to the keyboard when the response command is not input or the response command is not in the predetermined form; and stopping the power after a predetermined time has elapsed. Restarting the supply of the power, outputting the command to a pointing device, determining whether the response command output from the pointing device is input, and Determining whether or not the response command is in a predetermined form; Stopping the power supply to the pointing device when the response command is not performed or the response command is not in the predetermined form; and restarting the supply of the stopped power after the predetermined time has elapsed. A failure recovery method for a keyboard or a pointing device. 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the pointing device is a mouse.